CFTC clears stock perpetual futures for US trading

Crypto traders have had this tool for years. Bet on a price forever, with no expiration, using borrowed money to go bigger. On Tuesday, US regulators let that same tool loose on ordinary stocks. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said perpetual futures on individual companies can now trade on registered American exchanges. Nothing like it has ever been allowed in US stocks before. No exchange has actually launched one yet.

The CFTC calls these contracts 'equity perps.' The approval treats them as already allowed under existing security-futures rules, so no new rulemaking was needed. That's notable timing. Perpetual futures tied to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies exploded over the last few years. Most of that trading happened on offshore exchanges with little US oversight. Regulators are now building a legal, supervised version of that same product for stocks. It falls under joint oversight from the CFTC and the SEC. Nobody has said whether real investors actually want a contract that never settles. That's a different risk once leverage and volatility apply to one company's stock instead of a whole cryptocurrency market.

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Will any exchange actually launch one of these? That's the real open question. Approval just clears the legal path; it doesn't create demand. Perpetual futures work well for crypto partly because crypto trades nonstop, 24 hours a day, every day. US stocks don't. They still close every evening and stay shut on weekends. A 'perpetual' contract on a single stock would need new plumbing to make round-the-clock pricing work at all. Whichever exchange moves first is making a bet. Traders want crypto-style leverage on their favorite companies, not just on Bitcoin.